System for monitoring movement of railroad track

ABSTRACT

A system for monitoring movement of railroad track includes a plurality of data collection units secured to respective railroad ties in a curved section of railroad track. Each data collection unit includes a GPS receiver. The data collection units collect location data from the GPS receivers and transmit the location data to a base unit. The base unit collects the location data from the data collection units and periodically uploads the location data to a server. Software on the server reviews the data for any changes in location of the data collection units and reports the results to a user or users.

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/777,116 filed Mar. 12, 2013.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to railroad track monitoring and maintenance, and in particular to a system for monitoring movement of railroad track using GPS.

2. Description of the Related Art

Sections of railroad track, and in particular curved sections of railroad track, tend to move over time. This is primarily due to temperature changes causing expansion and contraction of the rails and the action of passing trains on the rails, however other factors such as soil erosion, seismic activity and the like may also affect the position of the tracks. Track movement need to be monitored in order to insure that the track remains safe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a system for detecting movement of railroad tracks. The system includes a plurality of data collection units, a base unit and a data processing server. The data collection units are spaced along a railroad track and are each attached to a respective railroad tie. Each data collection unit include a GPS receiver, a transmitter, a battery and a solar panel. The base unit is positioned near the section of track and includes a receiver, a battery, a solar panel, and an uplink to the server.

The data collection units each collect GPS data corresponding to the position and elevation of the data collection unit and the railroad tie to which it is mounted, and then transmit the data to the base unit. The base unit collects the data and transmits it to the data processing server. The server processes the data from the base unit to determine the amount of lateral and vertical displacement of the railroad track. Reports on track movement may be generated from the server.

The data collection units and/or the base unit may also include devices for measuring seismic activity, temperature, wind speed, and precipitation. This information would also be uploaded to the server and included in the reports generated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic plan view of a system for monitoring movement of railroad track according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing an alternative embodiment of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic elevational view of a data collection unit which forms a part of the system of FIG. 1 showing the data collection unit secured to a railroad tie of a section of railroad track;

FIG. 4 is a schematic elevational view of a base unit which forms a part of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a process of using the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.

Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience in reference only and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly,” “downwardly,” “rightwardly,” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the embodiment being described and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of a similar import.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, and in particular to FIG. 1, the reference number 1 generally designates a system for monitoring movement of railroad track according to the present invention. The system 1 includes a plurality of data collection units 3, a base unit 5 and a server 7. Each of the data collection units 3 is mounted on a respective railroad tie T in a section of railroad track, such as a curved section of railroad track C, and is preferably mounted near the end of a tie T on the outer side of the curved section of track C. Four data collection units 3 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and are denominated as data collection units 3 a-3 d. The actual number of data collection units 3 needed for any particular curved section of track C will depend on the length and arc of the curve. The base unit 5 is mounted in a fixed location proximate to the track section C and is preferably securely mounted to a foundation F (see FIG. 4), such as a post, pier, footing, slab or the like.

Referring to FIG. 3, each data collection unit 3 includes a housing 8 in which are housed a GPS receiver 9, a data transmitter 11 for transmitting GPS data to the base unit 5, and a battery 13 for powering the GPS receiver 9 and data transmitter 11. Each data collection unit 3 is further provided with a solar panel 15 mounted on the housing 8 for charging the respective battery 13. Referring to FIG. 2, secondary solar panels 16 may also be used in some applications, such as when there is not sufficient direct sunlight in the area of the track section C for powering the solar panels 15. The secondary solar panels 16 are remotely mounted from the data collection units 3 and connected to the data collection units 3 by respective cables 17. The housing 8 of each data collection unit 3 is secured to the respective tie T by clamps 15, or may be similarly secured using bolts, screws, or similar fasteners (not shown). One or more antennas 19 are provided on each data collection unit 3 for the GPS receiver 9 and data transmitter 11.

Referring to FIG. 4, the base unit 5 includes a housing 21 in which are housed a collection receiver 23 for receiving data from the data collection units 3, an upload transmitter 25 for uplinking to the server 7, and a battery 27 for powering the collection receiver 23 and upload transmitter 25. The base unit 5 preferably also includes a GPS receiver 28 which collects location data to serve as a static reference point for comparison to the location data collected from the GPS receivers 9 in the data collection units 3. The base unit 5 may also include storage media (not shown) for storing data for batch upload. The base unit 5 is provided with a solar panel 29 for charging the battery 27 and one or more antennas 31 for use by the collection receiver 23 and upload transmitter 25. The housing 21 is mounted to the foundation F on one or more mounting legs 33. It is foreseen that the upload transmitter 25 may be any type of transmitter capable of uploading data to a remote server, including but not limited to a cellular or satellite transmitter; telephone, cable or fiber optic modem; network adapter; wireless internet access point or the like.

In use and referring to FIG. 5, each data collection unit 3 periodically collects location data using its respective GPS receiver 9 and transmits the data to the base unit 5 via the respective data transmitter 11. The base unit 5 receives location data from each of the data collection units 3 through its collection receiver 23. The base unit 5 may also collect other data, such as static GPS data from the GPS receiver 28 and data from any additional sensors such as environmental data from seismic, temperature, wind speed, or precipitation sensors. At preselected intervals, the base unit 5 uploads the collected data to the server 7 via upload transmitter 25. The server 7 stores the data uploaded and custom software on the server 7 reviews the data for changes in location of the data collection units 3 and attached ties T. Information on any changes in location are reported to a user or users of the system 1 so that informed decisions on required track maintenance can be made by the user or users.

It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts described and shown. As used in the claims, identification of an element with an indefinite article “a” or “an” or the phrase “at least one” is intended to cover any device assembly including one or more of the elements at issue. Similarly, references to first and second elements, or to a pair of elements, is not intended to limit the claims to such assemblies including only two of the elements, but rather is intended to cover two or more of the elements at issue. Only where limiting language such as “a single” or “only one” with reference to an element, is the language intended to be limited to one of the elements specified, or any other similarly limited number of elements. 

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:
 1. A system for monitoring movement of a curved section of railroad track comprising: a) a plurality of data collection units, each of said data collection units fixedly connected to a tie in the curved section of railroad track and including a GPS receiver and a data transmitter, said GPS receiver obtaining location data identifying a location of the respective data collection unit and said data transmitter configured to transmit said location data; b) a base unit including a collection receiver configured to receive said location data from the data transmitter of each of said data collection units, said location data collected and retained by said base unit for upload; and c) a server in communication with said base unit and configured to receive and analyze said location data to identify changes in location of said data collection units and the attached ties.
 2. The system as in claim 1 wherein each said data collection unit includes a battery powering the respective GPS receiver and data transmitter and a solar panel connected to said battery and operable to charge said battery.
 3. The system as in claim 2 and further including one or more secondary solar panels remotely mounted from said data collection units and connected to said batteries of said data collection units by respective cables.
 4. The system as in claim 1 wherein said base unit further includes a base unit GPS receiver operable to collect static location data for comparison to the location data collected from said GPS receivers in said data collection units and transmit said static location data to said server.
 5. The system as in claim 1 wherein said base unit is further operable to collect environmental data and transmit said environmental data to said server.
 6. The system as in claim 1 wherein said base unit 5 further includes storage media for storing said location data for batch upload to said server.
 7. A method of monitoring movement of a curved section of railroad track comprising the steps of: a) collecting location data at a plurality of data collection units, each data collection unit secured to a respective railroad tie in a curved section of railroad track and including a GPS receiver operable to acquire the relative location data and a transmitter; b) communicating the location data from each of the data collection units to a fixed base unit via the respective transmitter; c) collecting the location data from each of the data collection units at the fixed base unit; d) uploading the collected location data from the base unit to a server; and e) using the server to analyze the collected location data to detect and track movement of the curved section of railroad track.
 8. The method as in claim 7 and further including the steps of: a) collecting static location data from a static GPS receiver included in the base unit; and b) uploading the static location data to the server for comparison to the collected location data.
 9. The method as in claim 7 and further including the steps of: a) collecting environmental data from sensors associated with the base unit; and b) uploading the environmental data from the base unit to the server. 